My oven baked chicken drumstick recipe is usually the top recipe on this site. Great crispy drummies but I keep getting asked about thigh. The people want thighs. They demand thighs. So thighs they will have by popular demand I present my recipe for oven baking chicken thighs.

Why thighs?

The chicken thigh’s dark meat is moist and flavorful. Why? Mostly the fat keeps it that way but how much fat is there. Since we are dealing with a natural product, there is some variability but think of a thigh having about triple the fat or a little more of chicken breasts. Here are the numbers from the National Chicken Councel.

My Rating

I’m at a four because I’m not usually a thigh person due to fat, but a lot of the fat drained during cooking on the rack.

Recipe Notes:

I think you can affect the fat content here. Trim off any trimmable fat. Get them up on a rack to let the rendered fat drain.

I was a bit surprise that the thighs took a few minutes less than drumsticks. BUT COOK TO THE TEMPERATURE not by time along. Please check my post about washing chicken at Chicken… To Rinse or Not To Rinse?

Preheat oven to 425 convection. Pat dry the chicken thighs.

Trim any loose skin with no meat off the thighs.

Prep a baking sheet. Line with aluminum foil, add a rack and give a heavy spray of PAM.

Place thighs skin down and sprinkle lightly with the spices of your choice. I went with 7:2:1 or 7:2:2. ( If you don’t have that then just a little salt and pepper to taste.) A pinch of cayenne would be good also. Flip and tuck in any thin parts underneath and sprinkle skin side.

With skin side up, bake until internal temp of 180 to 185. About 30 minutes. Rest for 5 minutes or more before serving.

If you like this recipe or find it useful, the pleasure of a nice 4 or 5 rating would be greatly appreciated. Especially any recipe that has no rating please. Thank You and have a great day.

Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Thighs

Votes: 929 Rating: 4.06 You:

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An ultra simple recipe for crispy moist chicken thighs. Just a quick pat dry, some spices and bake in a high oven. Welcome to thigh heaven.

CourseMain Course

CuisineAmerican

Servings

Prep Time

2servings

5minutes

Cook Time

30minutes

Servings

Prep Time

2servings

5minutes

Cook Time

30minutes

Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Thighs

Votes: 929 Rating: 4.06 You:

Rate this recipe!

Print Recipe

An ultra simple recipe for crispy moist chicken thighs. Just a quick pat dry, some spices and bake in a high oven. Welcome to thigh heaven.

CourseMain Course

CuisineAmerican

Servings

Prep Time

2servings

5minutes

Cook Time

30minutes

Servings

Prep Time

2servings

5minutes

Cook Time

30minutes

Ingredients

2chicken thighsdo as many as you want

7:2:1 or 7:2:2 Seasoning or seasoning of saltor kosher salt and pepper to taste

Servings: servings

Units:

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 convection. Pat dry the chicken thighs.

Prep a baking sheet. Line with aluminum foil, add a rack and give a heavy spray of PAM.

Place thighs skin down and sprinkle lightly with the spices of your choice. I went with 7:2:1 or 7:2:2. ( If you don't have that then just a little salt and pepper to taste) A pinch of cayenne would be good also. Flip and tuck in any thin parts underneath and sprinkle skin side.

With skin side up, bake until internal temp of 180 to 185. About 30 minutes. Rest for 5 minutes or more before serving.

Recipe Notes

Smoking ovens have been an issue for some due to high temp cooking. I haven’t had the problem, BUT it is probably related to multiple factors. First, if there is trimmable fat, trim it. Use a pan with some side on it to keep any splatter contained. If your oven has convection roast and convection bake, use the bake mode. And lastly, you could turn down the oven by 25-50 degrees. This will increase the cooking time some and may prone to drying out some. Remember to cook to an end point, not by time. Of course, the oven should be clean, so the smoke isn’t coming from a previous splatter.

Last Updated September 8, 2016

Nutrition Facts

Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Thighs

Amount Per Serving

Calories 245Calories from Fat 135

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 15g23%

Saturated Fat 4g20%

Polyunsaturated Fat 3g

Monounsaturated Fat 6g

Cholesterol 92mg31%

Sodium 686mg29%

Potassium 220mg6%

Protein 25g50%

Vitamin A3%

Calcium1%

Iron7%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

All nutritional information are estimates and can vary from your actual results. This is home cooking and there are many variables. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.

Love the flavor added some paprika for extra smoky flavor. Only comment is the bottom of my chicken was kind of gloopy and soft, suggestions? I am using the baking rake, but do I need to flip it close to the end of cooking time?

I have not been flipping but that soft bottom is the juices and fat draining. I feel the skin is extremely crisp so flipping the last ten minutes or so would help the soft bottom and I feel the skin would still be good. Let us know of that helps. DrDan

Yep convection. To convert to standard oven you can add 25 degrees or a little time (maybe about 5 minutes or so). When cooking at over 400 degrees I personally would add a little time. Remember you are cooking to a final temperature not a set time.

I have very very picky eaters at home AND I really don’t cook well at all. This recipe was a winner! The chicken turned out just as described with crispy skin and very juicy meat. I sprinkled a bit too much salt mixture on them so will tone that down next time and I did have to bake for 45 min to get to the desired meat temperature in our oven. Even with the extra salt, everyone but my toddler ate till they were full. Thank you for posting.

FIVE STARS! Thank you for this recipe and for the spice mix formula (it can be used to spice up so many things besides the chicken!) – I had wanted to know a good way to cook thighs and this is it. There are some thighs marinating in the spice mix with a generous few tablespoons of ras al hanout added.

The only issue – and this might be my cheap apartment oven – is that waiting those last minutes as the meat thermometer struggles to reach 180 degrees has resulted in a dryness. Why are these thighs not cooked to 165 degrees as are other chicken thighs?

The 165 is the safety point for cooking chicken and all chicken should be cooked to that as a minimum. I’m using 180 plus since thighs (and drumsticks) have more connective tissue then say a breast. You can stop at 165 but to me it is moist but still not quit done. For leaner chicken like a breast, you want to stop right at 165 and a lot of chefs like 160 (Not me).

On to your oven. You many be right and if you have to cook longer, it is more likely to dry. I would get a cheap oven thermometer and check it. It will effect all your cooking so you what to know the right settings for your oven.

I, too, got the kitchen full of smoke about 15 minutes into it. Is there anything I can do to prevent all the splattering that leads to the smoke? The chicken itself was good, but I don’t want to make my neighbors thing the apartment is burning down.

I haven’t had the problem BUT it is probably related to multiple factors. First if there is trimmable fat, trim it. Use a pan with some side on it to keep any splatter contained. If your oven has convection roast and convection bake, use the bake mode. And lastly turn down the oven by 25-50 degrees. This will increase the cooking time some and may prone to drying out some. Remember to cook to an end point an not by time. Of course the oven should be clean so the smoke isn’t coming from a previous splatter.

If you did not cover and they are still not cooking correctly there are several possibles. 1) Not using convection. Without convection they will take 5-10 minutes longer. 2) They were partly frozen 3) your oven temperature is way off. You might need an over thermometer to check how close your dialed in temperature is to reality.

Made this last night and my family went crazy. Everyone wished there was more. I used Montreal Steak Spice and a bit of paprika. This was so simple and the results were spectacular. And I don’t have a convection oven, I did them in the toaster oven at 425 for about half an hour.

While generally you would increase temp by 25 degrees for the regular oven, I don’t like doing that with this high of temp. I would just do 425 and it will take a few more minutes to get to the final temp which is what you are going for anyways. See FAQs for more on this. DrDan

I made this last night and used a regular oven @ 425, the skin got real crispy. I was confused at 1st about skin side down, I almost cooked them skin side down. I read the comments though n found the answer. The skin was way good. I used garlic salt, pepper, rosemary garlic seasoning n it was so crispy n good. I ate all the skin off the pieces and some meat. My kid ate the rest of the meat, my husband is out of town but, he would have liked it. I made them again tonight, this time I flipped to get both sides crispy. I will probably make again tomorrow. Thank You!

The rack is a rack on a rimmed baking tray… see pictures above. If you don’t have a rack, then put on foil in a rimmed tray that is coated with oil or PAM. Then start baking with skin side down and about 15 minutes into cooking flip. It won’t be quit as crispy but should cook fine. DrDan

I use parchment paper on sheet pan.. This pretty much lets chicken fry in its own fat.. Similar idea to cooking bacon on parchment.. Seriously delicious.. Lightly coat in same seasonings flour, corn starch baking powder ( in a Baggie) gives almost Korean fried crunch. Yummm

Awesome recipe. Easy and simple. Our new convection oven did a great job on ensuring this was cooked to perfection. I love chicken thighs better than breast meat. Tender and juicy. I’m making these tonight once my niece gets out of my kitchen. I’m getting hungry just thinking of these. Hurry up kid. Get out of my kitchen!

My oven lit on fire after 15 minutes!! I followed all of your instructions on preventing smoke to a T, including placing these boys on racks over lined oven pans, but I was making a huge batch (20 thighs) for a party and apparently it was too much grease for the oven to handle. I panicked and shut off the oven and realized the fire went out so I decided to turn it back on and continue cooking them and guess what? The house smelled a bit smokey when the party started but the thighs were GORGEOUS and delicious and they gobbled them up. Also, chicken for 20 people cost me $9! This recipe is a keeper–though next time I’ll be making a smaller batch!

Saturday I always cook a meal to last a few days for my brother and bring it to him. Typically I just make some favorites that take a long time and can be costly. Purchased two large packages and cooked in disposable baking pans no smoke which has happened in my oven (small oven). My brother loved his meal and had seconds said they were juicy and delicious. Now cooking more for my husband not using salt for health lots of garlic, pepper and smoked paprika. Thanks for the tips and recipe I don’t cook thighs so this was a first, done perfectly.

Used salt, fresh ground pepper, garlic powder and smoked paprika and on first try these came out great! Had to extend cook time to 40min but true to its name the result was perfectly crisped skin and juicy, flavorful meat. Cheap and super easy, even cleanup was a breeze. Adding this one to my go-to foolproof recipes!

This was by far the best chicken recipe I have found in a long. Skin perfectly crispy and inside moist and delicious! Served with baked potatoes and steamed broccoli & cauliflower. Family loved it. Will be a go to dinner!

The suggested mix is not intended to be all applied. Season to taste and save the rest for late. I just keep the 7:2:2 in a shaker and add what I want. Part of the beauty of this sort of seasoning is you can adjust to your taste. Maybe make 4:2:2 if you want.

You are not the first to use the whole amount. I think I will do some rewording.

I found this recipe and tried it – LOVED it. Since then, I’ve made it quite a few times and I even cooked extra and froze them, then defrosted and warmed them in the microwave later — the amazing part — while they weren’t quite as crisp, still, they were close….i was really surprised. Thanks for the easy, simple recipe…five stars for you!

Came out perfect! I have a gas stove so I put it at 425 and let the temp tell me when it was ready. Perfect crispy skin, amazing flavor and so juicy. Will definitely make again. It was my first attempt at thighs in the oven and I was not disappointed. All I did was add some onion powder to the seasonings!

I googled & saw your recipe… I was looking for a basic oven baked recipe SPECIFICALLY for bone in thighs that didn’t have a bunch of additional sauces or seasoning. I used salt, pepper & paprika. THIS one looked perfect.. after reading through the comments I learned that since my oven is a standard gas & not. Convection I allowed for extra time. I also realized & expected a bit of oven smoke. It took me an extra 15 minutes (I used my digital thermometer) & turned my oven down from 425 to 400 for the last 10… didn’t want my skin to burn. It turned out Perfectly flavored & cooked (juicy not bloody by the bone) & most importantly I was able to use the smoked Pineapple Habanero sauce I wanted as a table glaze/dipping sauce! Thanks for sharing!

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